It’s funny how you can relate to someone once you have your own experiences with it.
If you aren’t a fan of running, for example, you might not follow sports such as cross country that strictly focus on that effort. But cross country has been around, oh, let’s say since Zeus ruled Olympia.
To be perfectly clear, I am not a runner. I was for a brief period of time in my early 20s but prefer walking at this point in life. I do, however, admire runners who can get out there and eat up the miles every day. For cross country runners, I imagine the sport is pretty solitary. The only one who can run for you, is you, even if you’re doing it in a group.
I have a teenage niece who decided to run a 5K this summer and won. That led to her interest in joining the cross country team at her school where she is having success. She understands the importance of practice, effort and a whole bunch of other things that make her good at it.
As a result, my interest in cross country runners has increased. But for this story, cross country as a sport takes a backseat to kindness.
On a Facebook post recently, a Flandreau Indian School student named Justin Rhoades, a senior from North Dakota, told everyone about a more important role that cross country can have for young people. He wrote about how he was the only junior varsity runner from his school at a recent meet and was hanging out near runners from Flandreau High School, when a middle school student asked him to run with them in their group.
The student, who he didn’t name, told Rhoades that while they might wear different school colors, they’re really representing one place. They’re one team, if you think about it in that way.
Whether Rhoades have ever won a race and whether that middle school student goes on to win a state championship in the future suddenly doesn’t seem as important as what they bring to the sport when it comes to building others up.
It can be a lonely, sometimes solitary and even cruel road out there for young people. Social media, which is supposed to connect us and bring us all up-to-date on what people are doing, can have the opposite effect. It can make people feel more alone when they see that others seem to be leading a “perfect” social life that excludes them. Being away from family at a boarding school or when going away to college for the first time can bring some adjustments, even loneliness, too.
But one teen making the effort to include another teen that he didn’t even know is pretty powerful stuff. And the courage of Rhoades to accept the gesture speaks well of him. Sometimes, you have to bravely trust others when you accept their kindness.
Congratulations to the runners from our local teams. They’re strong. They’re fearless. They train and try hard.
They’re making a difference and winning in ways that are more important than a footrace.
